At 11:17 PM -0400 5/29/00, Brian Trout wrote:
>I tried to tune a piano today that had been built with what I believe is an
>excessively tight pinblock. I actually did get out the torque wrench. I
>can only read it up to about 250 inch pounds of torque, and probably 2 - 3
>dozen of the tuning pins were way in excess of that. Judging from the feel
>of the pins, I would guestimate in excess of 300 inch pounds for the worst.
Most tuning pins I know would have twisted off at the becket somewhere
between 257-300#.
>Am I being a jerk to say that this brand new, well recognized, name brand
>piano is defective? Would I be wrong in recommending that the manufacturer
>be asked to repair this defect?
Sounds like the not-so-",,,,,lite" version of one of them amber blocks.
You'll have a hard time convincing the dealer that a pinblock can be bad
with the opposite of loose tuning pins. You'll be lucky to get a factory
service manager to aggree that it's a problem. It's not for people just
trying to get the piano through inspection and shipped. It is for those of
us who have to tune it year after year. You'll get the manufacturer's
attention when tuning pins start snapping
>Anyone care to name the highest acceptable torque?
175#. There should be a reasonable relatronship between the string friction
and pinblock grip. In any case the former needs to be less than the latter.
But a freshly strung piano will have string friction well under100#. For
the bottom end of the pin to move at anything more than 150#, you'll be
working with an exagerated difference bewteen how the strings and pins
move, all the more unworkable in the tuning situation where new stretching
wire requires getting the bottom end of the pin to move to accomplish the
pitch raise..
Bill Ballard, RPT
New Hampshire Chapter, PTG
"Come on, a priest and a rabbi?! I think I've heard this one before"
...........the Punjabi/Irish barkeep in "Keeping the Faith"
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